'Courage and sacrifice': Edmontonians gather for Remembrance Day ceremonies

Members of the Canadian military and RCMP stand honour guard during the Remembrance Day Service at the University of Alberta's Van Vliet Centre, in Edmonton Sunday Nov. 11, 2018. David Bloom / Postmedia

It was 2 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918 when the newswire message arrived in the office of the Edmonton Bulletin: “Armistice signed.”

Soon, car horns were blaring, firefighters sounded sirens and joyful people streamed into the streets, lighting a bonfire at Jasper Avenue and 101 Street downtown.

On Sunday afternoon, volunteers and performers at Armistice 100: A Tribute held a Remembrance Day event to mark a century since the First World War ended. Part memorial tribute, part historical re-enactment, the event revisited Edmonton’s contributions to The Great War and how it shaped the city’s history.

Participants sported period outfits, including red, white and blue regimental uniforms, members of Lord Strathcona’s Mounted Troop trotted in and a “wounded” soldier wearing fatigues hobbled around with a crutch.

In the centre of Capital Plaza on the legislature grounds, organizers used banners and scaffolding to create a replica of the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, which stands in Ypres, Belgium.

A musician played the Mons Bugle — the same instrument that sounded in Belgium when the Allies signed the armistice.

Photos: Remembrance Day in Edmonton

An honour guard takes part in the Remembrance Day Service at the University of Alberta's Van Vliet Centre, in Edmonton Sunday Nov. 11, 2018. /David Bloom/Postmedia

Members of the Canadian military and RCMP stand honour guard during the Remembrance Day Service at the University of Alberta's Van Vliet Centre, in Edmonton Sunday Nov. 11, 2018. /David Bloom/Postmedia

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson lays a wreath during the Remembrance Day Service at the University of Alberta's Van Vliet Centre, in Edmonton Sunday Nov. 11, 2018. /David Bloom/Postmedia

Memorial Cross recipient Lisa Schamehorn - Eades wipes away a tear during the Remembrance Day Service at the University of Alberta's Van Vliet Centre, in Edmonton Sunday Nov. 11, 2018. Her husband, Sgt. Shawn Eades, died Aug. 20, 2008, during his third tour in Afghanistan. Her daughters Niya Eades and Breanna Eades are seated to the right. /David Bloom/Postmedia

Memorial Cross recipient Lisa Schamehorn - Eades is framed by soldiers during the Remembrance Day Service at the University of Alberta's Van Vliet Centre, in Edmonton Sunday Nov. 11, 2018. Her husband, Sgt. Shawn Eades, died Aug. 20, 2008, during his third tour in Afghanistan. /David Bloom/Postmedia

Members of the Canadian Military take part in a Remembrance Day Service at the University of Alberta's Van Vliet Centre, in Edmonton Sunday Nov. 11, 2018. /David Bloom/Postmedia

Bugler A. Daniel Skepple performs the Last Post during the Remembrance Day Service at the University of Alberta's Van Vliet Centre, in Edmonton Sunday Nov. 11, 2018. /David Bloom/Postmedia

The Peach Torch is carried into position during a Remembrance Day Service at the University of Alberta's Van Vliet Centre, in Edmonton Sunday Nov. 11, 2018. /David Bloom/Postmedia

Members of the Canadian armed services march into the Remembrance Day Service at the University of Alberta's Van Vliet Centre, in Edmonton Sunday Nov. 11, 2018. /David Bloom/Postmedia

Canadian military members march past during the Remembrance Day Service at the University of Alberta's Van Vliet Centre, in Edmonton Sunday Nov. 11, 2018. David_Bloom/Postmedia

Poppies lay on wreaths during the Remembrance Day Service at the University of Alberta's Van Vliet Centre, in Edmonton Sunday Nov. 11, 2018. David_Bloom/Postmedia

A member of the Canadian military places a poppy on a wreath during the Remembrance Day Service at the University of Alberta's Van Vliet Centre, in Edmonton Sunday Nov. 11, 2018. David_Bloom/Postmedia

A woman gently touches a wreath while paying respects during the Remembrance Day Service at the University of Alberta's Van Vliet Centre, in Edmonton Sunday Nov. 11, 2018. David_Bloom/Postmedia

Edmonton war history

Narrator Neil Kuefler walked the hundreds of spectators gathered on the sunny but chilly afternoon through Edmonton men’s enthusiasm to enlist when war was declared, the stagnation it caused in the growth of the new city, and the exhausted soldiers’ return home in 1919 to a crowd of 30,000 revellers.

Nearly one-quarter of Albertans joined the war efforts, and one in eight of them would never come back.

“Many of the people who did come home, they never recovered,” Lt.-Gov. Lois Mitchell said. “They never truly recovered from the horrors on the front lines. Those brave, brave Albertans and Canadians were left to struggle the terrible physical and mental scars for the rest of their lives.”

Several leaders took the podium to express gratitude to the dead, the surviving veterans, and those currently serving in the military.

“We must never forget that if not for these selfless Canadians, we might not enjoy the rights and the freedoms that we’re so privileged to have today,” MLA Nicole Goehring said.

Although he hopes it never happens again, Brig. Gen. Trevor Cadieu, commander of the 3rd Canadian Division, said if called upon, the military is ready. It’s thanks in large part to experience in major battles like Passchendaele, Vimy Ridge and the Somme, he said.

Hundreds marching

Earlier on Sunday, an annual tradition came to life at the Butterdome, where women, men and children of many stripes marched around the indoor track to music performed by the Salvation Army Edmonton Temple and Calgary Glenmore bands.

Hundreds of spectators looked on as members of the Air Force, Army, Navy, veterans, police, firefighters, scouts, Girl Guides and others stood at attention while J’lyn Nye, honorary colonel of 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron, reviewed Canada’s horrifying First World War.

Here’s a video of troops, police, firefighters, veterans and others parading around the Butterdome for Remembrance Day this morning #yegpic.twitter.com/FdAtGk9a1N

‘To say thank you’

Canada’s population in 1918 was around eight million, yet 650,000 people enlisted during the war, Nye said. 6,140 Albertans died in the First World War, and another 20,000 were wounded, she said.

Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1918 was a turning point for the country, she said.

“For the first time, Canada stood on the international stage as an independent nation. We achieved that status due to the courage and sacrifice of Canadians who fought in the First World War.”

During the ceremony, attendee Betty Duncan was thinking about her husband, who served in the Second World War, her dad, who was in the Canadian Air Force, and several other uncles and a grandfather who were in the military.

She came “to say thank you, for what these guys do, and what they’re going through,” she said.

The Last Post

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson helped light the peace torch to commemorate veterans and pass responsibility on to the next generation. The solemn trumpeting of The Last Post, two moments of silence, lament on the bagpipes, readings and a prayer were followed by government and military leaders laying wreaths before a cenotaph.

Among those laying wreaths was Memorial Cross recipient Lisa Schamehorn-Eades and her two daughters. Their father and husband, Sgt. Shawn Eades, died Aug. 20, 2008, on his third tour in Afghanistan.

Eades, who was with No. 1 Combat Engineer Regiment in Edmonton, died alongside fellow combat engineers Cpl. Dustin Wasden and Sapper Stephan Stock when a roadside bomb detonated near their armoured vehicle in southern Afghanistan.

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